Originally created many moons ago by examinerebb, this league makes any franchise a contender (the Twins won our last season...THE TWINS!), and a better group of owners can't be found on the site. There is much good-natured banter in the draft thread and the league chat, so bring your sense of humor. The rules are simple:

1. Each owner chooses a franchise. Franchise draft order is in inverse order of win percentage from the previous season for non-playoff teams, then inverse order of win percentage of non-World Series playoff teams, with the WS runner-up picking 31st, and the WS champ choosing last. New owners will be assigned the draft position of any previous owners who are not returning, with the first to sign up receiving the highest slot, and so on.

2. Each owner chooses five players he/she wishes to protect from that franchise (1969-2012) and submits that list via sitemail to me. Those players are the exclusive property of their respective owners.

3. After all lists are submitted, they will be posted and a three round modified Rule V draft will be held, with draft order being inverse order of each franchise's Rule V win percentage through all legs from which we have data (the worst teams pick first). Many thanks to schwarze for compiling this data. Each owner selects one unprotected player from any active franchise but their own (player seasons for franchises that were not chosen are not eligible). That player is also theirs exclusively. No more than two players may be taken from any one franchise in any one round.

4. At the end of the first and second rounds, each owner will choose an additional player they wish to protect. You will end up protecting seven in all, while drafting three. These ten players must appear on your roster. The rest of the roster is filled by players from your franchise during the given time period (1969-present day).

$120 Million Cap
No trades
No WW
No DH
No AAANo clones (same player, same franchise - if a player played for more than one franchise, he is available once for each franchise)If a player split time between multiple teams in a season (as listed at WIS) his full season is available once for each teamSLL limited to current seriesStadium must have been used by your franchise for at least one full season between 1969 and 2012Tiebreaker for draft positions will be run differential from the previous season, worse differential picks first

For those new to the Rule V fold:

There is much good-natured ribbing during the draft (we try not to be too player-specific, so as not to influence the draft, but sometimes the temptation is too much). Do not take it personally. Pick a draft strategy and stay the course, regardless.

Glossary

He Who Must Not Be Named (HWMNBN) - A former player/manager/dirtbag for the Cincinnati Reds (and later, Philadelphia Phillies and Montreal Expos) who defiled the grand game of baseball. No Rule V team has ever won a title with him, so heed jose's warnings about karma. I would imagine Lady Karma grows weary from teaching the same lesson over and over, as the ruler with which she raps offending knuckles seems to grow with each passing season. The scumbag finally won a championship (make it two after last leg). Lady Karma has stunned us all with this development

The Single Most Overrated Pitcher of All Time (TSMOPOAT) - Nolan Ryan

The Single Most Overrated Position Player of All Time (TSMOPPOAT) - Cal Ripken, Jr.